In, Cape Fear Public Transit Authority v. Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1328, the Wilmington transit authority is challenging a labor arbitration in favor of the Union, which ordered a terminated employee be put back to work.  This case is before federal Judge Boyle in the Eastern District of North Carolina.  Yesterday, Judge Boyle ruled for the Union, concluding that there were no grounds to reverse the arbitration decision.  Finding the city’s lawsuit to be “without justification,” Judge Boyle also awarded the Union its attorneys’ fees for defending this case.  Here is the opinion.  Mike Okun and Narendra Ghosh are representing the Union.

Categories: News of the Firm, Results Tags: ATU, EDNC, Judge Boyle, Labor and Employment, Michael Okun, Narendra Ghosh, Results, Unions

In Campbell v. National Pipe and Plastics Inc. the Plaintiff, Sherron Campbell, was represented in part by Narendra Ghosh of Patterson Harkavy.  The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled for the plaintiff in affirming the North Carolina Industrial Commission’s Opinion and Award, which had awarded workers’ compensation benefits to Ms. Campbell.

Ms. Campbell suffered injuries to her right hand and fingers when attempting to stop her fall by grabbing a nearby pipe.  This injury and resulting disability also aggravated Ms. Campbell’s depression, which had been manageable up to this point.  In the appeal, the defendants contended that the Commission erred in assigning weight to Dr. Williams’ testimony, arguing that they considered it to be speculative because he did not identify a specific degree to which Ms. Campbell’s compensable injury by accident had exacerbated her preexisting condition.   However, the Court held that Dr. Williams did not need to determine to what degree the workplace injury exacerbated the psychological condition, but only that it was a factor in the exacerbation of Ms. Cambell’s preexisting condition.  The defendants also contended that the Commission did not determine if plaintiff’s statements to her doctor were credible, but the Court ruled that a doctor is entitled to rely on information provided by the patient to form his opinion.  And, in any event, the Court of Appeals does not have authority to reweigh evidence or credibility determinations after the Commission has considered it.  Defendants’ final argument that the Commission erred in giving weight to Dr. Prakken’s opinion was overruled by the Court, which concluded that the Commission does not need to explain why it has given weight to particular evidence.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, News of the Firm Tags: Appeals, Case Commentary, Industrial Commission, Injury by Accident, Narendra Ghosh, NC Court of Appeals, Pre-existing condition, Results, Workers' Compensation

In Evans v. Hendrick Automotive Group, the North Carolina Court of Appeals published this opinion, ruling that defendants improperly appealed a non-final decision of the Industrial Commission, and dismissing their appeal.  Ms. Evans was an office manager for a Hendrick dealership in Texas.  She was injured during a business trip to Charlotte, while she was walking back from an employer-sponsored dinner to her hotel.  The primary issue is whether the Industrial Commission correctly concluded that Ms. Evans’ accident arose out of and was in the course of her employment and properly awarded her workers’ compensation benefits.  The case now returns to the Commission.  Narendra Ghosh helped represent Ms. Evans.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, Results Tags: Appeals, Charlotte, Compensable Injury, Interlocutory Appeal, Narendra Ghosh, NC Court of Appeals, Results, Valerie Johnson, Workers' Compensation

In the case of Pascoe v. Furniture Brands International, Judge Frank Whitney in the Western District of North Carolina denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims of sexual harassment today.  The case will now proceed to trial, which is scheduled for later this month.  Ann Groninger and Joshua Van Kampen represent the plaintiffs, Pam Pascoe and Margaret Tambling, against their former employers in this case.

Judge Whitney did not issue a written decision, but plaintiff’s memorandum in opposition to summary judgment well describes this case:

This case raises a very poignant and present question, which is the extent of an employer’s liability under state and federal law for the conduct of a seemingly mentally unstable supervisor who tormented his female employees with threats of violence, including gun violence, surveillance of their homes, and numerous bizarre sexual comments. Regrettably, the conduct at issue in this case is a cautionary tale of an employer that flubbed the handling of a potentially dangerous situation by initially ignoring glaring warning signs, subsequently severely under-reacting to them, and which ultimately chose to circle the wagons around the proverbial outlaw, rather than act as a responsible member of our corporate community. Thankfully, Spicer did not turn his guns on these women as he said he might, but plaintiffs feared that he was fully capable of physically harming them. They have carried emotional scars left by Mr. Spicer’s conduct; injuries made worse by their employer’s betrayal of them. Defendants may aim to use their summary judgment motions to establish a low water mark of the protections afforded women in the workplace in North Carolina; however, plaintiffs respectfully submit that they have marshaled sufficient facts to permit a jury to answer that question.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, News of the Firm Tags: Ann Groninger, Briefs, Discrimination, Joshua Van Kampen, Judge Whitney, Labor and Employment, Results, Sexual Harassment, Summary Judgment, Title VII, Western District of North Carolina

In Simmons v. United Mortgage and Loan Investment, LLC, the Fourth Circuit ruled for plaintiffs and reversed the district court in this wage and hour case.  The plaintiffs are Charlotte-based Junior Asset Managers for a mortgage company who were not paid overtime even though they worked more than 40 hours per week.  They brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA) based on the failure to pay overtime.  The primary issue is whether the plaintiffs will be able to pursue their case as a collective and class action on behalf the other underpaid workers at the company.  The defendants tried to short-circuit the collective/class action process by tendering a limited settlement offer before other workers could be notified of the case.  The Fourth Circuit rejected this tactic, finding the settlement too indefinite to moot the case.  The Court remanded the case to the trial court to consider plaintiff’s motion to certify the collective action and plaintiffs’ amendments to the NCWHA claims.  Ann Groninger, Burton Craige, and Narendra Ghosh are representing the plaintiffs.

More from the opinion below:

Read more…

Categories: Judicial Decisions, News of the Firm Tags: Ann Groninger, Appeals, Burton Craige, Charlotte, Class Action, Collective Action, Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, Fourth Circuit, Labor and Employment, Narendra Ghosh, NCWHA, North Carolina Wage and Hour Act, Overtime, Results, Wage and Hour, Wages

On December 22, Judge Voorhees in the Western District of North Carolina denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment in Fox v. Alexander County.  Terry Fox, the plaintiff, had been employed by Alexander County EMS since 1983 and had been promoted several times. In 2006, Fox was demoted and replaced by a younger worker, purportedly because of a slow response to a call.  The Judge, however, concluded that plaintiff had “ample evidence” that would allow a reasonable jury to believe that the reasons the county gave for demoting Fox – mainly that his team did not meet a standard response time on a call – were a pretext for age discrimination.

Accordingly, Fox’s claims for age discrimination under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act (ADEA) and under North Carolina state law can proceed to trial.  This decision is a significant victory because North Carolina federal courts rarely rule for employment law plaintiffs when deciding summary judgment motions.  Fox is represented by Joshua Van Kampen.

More from the opinion below:  Read more…

Categories: Judicial Decisions, News of the Firm Tags: ADEA, Age Discrimination and Employment Act, Alexander County, Joshua Van Kampen, Labor and Employment, NCEPA, North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act, Pretext, Results, Summary Judgment, Western District of North Carolina

On Monday, December 6, firm partners Leto Copeley (Chapel Hill) and Ann Groninger (Charlotte) obtained a $250,000.00 verdict in Forsyth County Superior Court on behalf of their client, Thomas M. Sprinkle, against Hammaker East Emulsions, LLC, an asphalt manufacturing company.

Mr. Sprinkle was working for his employer Blythe Industries as a tack distributor truck driver on December 3, 2008, the day of his injury.  That morning his truck was empty and he drove to Hammaker East to have the truck loaded with tack.  After directing him to the loading dock and inserting the pipe into his truck, a Hammaker employee told Mr. Sprinkle that the pipes were clogged and it would be a little while before the tack started flowing.  Mr. Sprinkle remained on top of his truck, as he normally did, waiting for the tack to flow.  What he did not know, because Hammaker employees failed to tell him, was that, when the clog loosened, it would come out with a big “kapow.”  He also did not know that, in addition to blowing air through, and heating the pipes, the Hammaker employees left on the valve that allowed tack to flow from their system into Mr. Sprinkle’s truck.  When the clog finally loosened, the pipe came bursting out of the truck, spraying tack all over the truck and Mr. Sprinkle and knocking Mr. Sprinkle more than 10 feet to the ground.

Mr. Sprinkle’s knee was “pulverized” according to his doctor.  He had a complicated surgery to reconstruct his knee, a long period of recovery, and will likely need knee replacement surgery in the future.  After knocking him off his truck, Hammaker employees left Mr. Sprinkle sitting outside in the below-freezing temperature, until his supervisor arrived and called 911.  There was testimony that Hammaker’s plant manager, Bryan Miller, was slurring his words and reeked of alcohol immediately after Mr. Sprinkle’s fall.

Attorneys Valerie Johnson and Narendra Ghosh and paralegal Elizabeth Weatherspoon provided valuable assistance throughout the trial.

Categories: News of the Firm, Results Tags: Ann Groninger, Forsyth County, Industrial Accident, Leto Copeley, Narendra Ghosh, Negligence, Personal Injuries, Premises Liability, Results, Valerie Johnson

The North Carolina Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for discretionary review (PDR) in Taylor v. Town of Garner.  The Court of Appeals decided earlier this year that Officer Taylor is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits from the Town of Garner for the injury he suffered while working as a mounter officer at an N.C. State football game.  Because Officer Taylor was working pursuant to a mutual aid and assistance agreement between the Town of Garner and N.C. State, Garner remained responsible for his workers’ compensation.  The Court’s denial of the PDR means that Officer Taylor will finally receive his benefits.  Valerie Johnson and Narendra Ghosh represent Officer Taylor.

Categories: Results Tags: Narendra Ghosh, NC Supreme Court, Police Officers, Results, Valerie Johnson, Workers' Compensation

In a unanimous decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision awarding Plaintiff Rebecca Davis joint custody of the child she raised with her former domestic partner:

Defendant Margaret Swan appeals from an order granting Plaintiff Rebecca Davis joint legal custody and secondary physical custody of Swan’s biological child (“minor child”). Swan argues that the trial court erred by applying the best interest standard to the child custody dispute between the parties. Because the record shows that Swan acted inconsistently with her constitutionally protected right to exclusive care and control of the minor child, we affirm the trial court’s decision to apply the best interest of the child standard.

On appeal, Davis was represented by Burton Craige, Narendra Ghosh, and Sharon Thompson of the Sharon Thompson Law Group.

Categories: Judicial Decisions, Results Tags: Appeals, Burton Craige, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Narendra Ghosh, NC Court of Appeals, Results

On Friday, August 20, 2010, a Cleveland County jury returned a unanimous verdict for our client, Danny Rhodes.  Danny was injured at work in 1992 while working for a long haul trucker for Hersek Express Incorporated.  Since Hersek had no workers’ compensation insurance, Danny had to get a judgment from a Superior Court judge.  When he tried to collect the judgment in 2002, he learned that Hersek had become a new company – Diamond H Incorporated – and that Diamond H now owned all of the assets.  Danny’s former attorney filed a complaint against the companies and their individual owners alleging claims of fraudulent transfer, civil conspiracy and piercing the corporate veil.

We became involved in the case in 2008.   We obtained documents from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the companies’ bank and their accountant to show how the companies and its owners moved money and assets around.  The jury found that Hersek fraudulently transferred five trucks to the new company; they also found that Diamond H and the owners of the two companies controlled Hersek to the extent that it had no separate corporate identity.  Danny is now entitled to collect his judgment from Diamond H and the individual owners as well as from Hersek.  Danny was represented by Ann Groninger and Paige Kurtz of Sprouse & Kurtz, PLLC.

Categories: Results Tags: Ann Groninger, Cleveland County, Enforcing Judgment, Fraudulent Transfer, Litigation, Piercing Corporate Veil, Results, Trial, Workers' Compensation